Grading happiness: what grading systems tell us about cross-country wellbeing comparisons

Fernanda Marquez-Padilla and Jorge Alvarez ()
Additional contact information
Jorge Alvarez: IMF

Economics Bulletin, 2018, vol. 38, issue 2, 1138-1155

Abstract: Self-reported wellbeing measures have been widely used in cross-country studies. However, there are concerns about the sensitivity of these measures to country-specific factors that affect the interpretation of questions and scales without affecting wellbeing itself. Using a novel database on international grading systems, we find evidence that differences in numerical grading systems affect self-reported wellbeing. In particular, countries with a higher threshold for passing grades tend to report higher levels of life satisfaction. Since grading systems are unlikely to affect wellbeing itself, we conclude that grading systems affect the interpretation of scales--probably by providing reference points that anchor individuals' responses.

Keywords: Subjective wellbeing; Life satisfaction; Response styles (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D6 I3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018-06-21
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.accessecon.com/Pubs/EB/2018/Volume38/EB-18-V38-I2-P110.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-18-00325

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Economics Bulletin from AccessEcon
Bibliographic data for series maintained by John P. Conley ().